Modern computer networks may consist of thousands of computing devices of various kinds, often made by different vendors and interconnected by many types of transmission media, including standard telephone lines, satellites, digital microwave radio, optical fibers, or digital data lines. They may include local or wide area configurations. For such a group of heterogeneous devices to be linked, either the hardware and software need to be compatible or else complex interfaces need to be built to allow meaningful communication to take place.
A computer network consists of a set of communication channels interconnecting a set of computing devices or nodes that can communicate with each other. The nodes may be computers, terminals, work stations, or communication units of various kinds distributed over different locations. They communicate over communication channels that can be leased from common carriers (e.g. telephone companies) or are provided by the owners of the network. These channels may use a variety of transmission media, including optical fibers, coaxial cable, twisted copper pairs, satellite links, or digital microwave radio. The nodes may be distributed over a wide area (distances of hundreds or thousands of miles) or over a local area (distances of a hundred feet to several miles), in which case the network are called wide area (WAN) or local area (LAN) networks, respectfully. Combinations of LANs and WANs are also possible in the case of widely separated LANs in branch offices connected via a WAN to the LAN in corporate headquarters.
Over the past decade, modern computer networks have greatly increased in number and geographical area, in the number and variety of devices interconnected, and in the scope of the applications supported. A modern network may consists of thousands of computing devices made by various manufacturers connected by a variety of transmission media spanning international and intercontinental boundaries.
For example, a single network can include a node in California as well as a node in New York. If a network administrator in California wishes to inventory all of the devices and software located in New York, the California network administrator would typically need to contact a network administrator located in New York to obtain the required details. Although the network administrator in California may already be aware of the existence of a device in the New York portion of the network, the California network administrator may not be aware of details related to that device, such as the model of the device, the type of the device, hardware components information including vendor specific part number, the version of the software running on the device, software feature set, software location, and the size in bytes of the software. This type of information may be needed by the California network administrator for inventory purposes.
Another situation in which a user, such as a network administrator, may need to know details of a particular device or a particular piece of software within the network may be when the user wishes to use a product in conjunction with a piece of software or device located in a different location from the user. For example, if the California network administrator wishes to utilize a product in conjunction with a device located in New York, then the California network administrator would typically need to call the New York network administrator to determine whether the product can support the device or feature set.
If the California network administrator determines that the product that he wishes to use does not support the current version of the software in the New York device, then the California network administrator would typically need to determine which software version would be compatible with the product he wishes to use. Typically this information can be found in a manual associated with the product. Once the software version is determined, then the California network administrator can load the new software version on to the device located in New York.
It would be desirable to be able to automatically learn various details related to a particular device or piece of software. Additionally it would also be desirable to automatically determine if a product supports the device or feature set of the device. If the device or feature set is not compatible with the product, then it would be desirable to be able to automatically locate a software version which would be compatible with the product and automatically load it on to the device. The present invention addresses such a need.